


Ways I Could Not Predict

by helpme_iminlove



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prostitution, F/M, Infidelity, Out of Character?, Stag Nights & Bachelor Parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:30:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3408983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helpme_iminlove/pseuds/helpme_iminlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re getting married soon,” she stated softly, reaching up to trace his jaw with one finger, watching his eyes widen, his throat swallow. “But is that going to stop you from kissing me?” </p><p> </p><p>AU in which Audrey Horne is not the daughter of Benjamin Horne, but a prostitute at One-Eyed Jack's, trying to earn money for college. Dale Cooper is the deputy of Twin Peaks, who is getting maried to a special Annie Blackburn quite soon, until things become compromised when his friends make the mistake of setting him up with a girl on the night of his bachelor party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Night (In Which an Unlikely Event Takes Place)

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is an AU because this fandom needs some AU's, like, gee wiz. This fic is gratuiously inspired by when Audrey was at One-Eyed Jack's to help with the case, and Cooper went to go save her. I loved that. 
> 
> Please comment or kudos if you like it! Or if you hate it, whichever one.
> 
> Also, I would like to appologize if any of this seems out of character--I'm trying.
> 
> I don't own any of this. That was a disclaimer.

Audrey twirled a piece of her short hair on her finger, tilting her head back for the man going through his mid-life crises to have better access to her pale throat. He hummed and sucked on her neck and collarbone, while she laid underneath him, gently stroking his back from time to time. He began to nudge and push with his hands at her dress, and she barely held back a sigh before saying, “You ready to play cards, big boy?” as she helped him slip off her dress. The poor man’s eyes went wide at her sultry voice, and he nodded his head in agreement eagerly, and Audrey almost grimaced at the way that he looked like a mangy dog. But work is work. She liked the paycheck she got at the end of the month. He almost ripped off his slacks in excitement, and as Audrey scooted up the bed, she took deep breaths to remain calm and alert. She flashed him fake, seductive smiles as he crawled up the bed after her, and she made fake moans for the next half hour that she spent underneath him. God, why did Blackie not put her out in the casino tonight? 

* * *

 

Audrey Horne had been working at One Eyed Jack’s for about five months. If you asked her, she wouldn’t really be able to tell you how she had started working there. She’d like to think that she’s a very smart girl, the best in all her classes at school; but one minute she was working at the Department Store in town, and the next she was signing a contract in Black Rose’s office. In retrospect, she supposed it was a good choice-- she was making double nightly than what she would’ve made in a month at that dumb perfume counter. Though, it was unfortunate that the owner of One Eyed Jack’s had been the man to take her virginity. But that was all just a new part of her life she supposed. The reason that she stayed working there was the fact that her family needed the money desperately. What with the monumental costs of her brother Johnny’s therapy, and the incompetency of her alcoholic mother, she had to provide for them somehow. Plus, if she was going to be a successful business woman one day, she had to start somewhere, and what better place to learn about business than at a cathouse and casino? It wasn’t all bad.

Except for the nights where Blackie put her on whore duty. Those nights were the worst. She liked working the floor, where she could cheer on handsome men and their gambling, rather than sit and wait in a luxurious room for the next perv to saunter in. On the brightside, sometimes they were handsome, and she didn’t really have to fake anything. But most of the time, they were old and way too into getting it on with a girl her age. Sometimes they were too rough and sometimes the first thing they said when they walked into the room was what she would prefer her safe word to be. Sometimes they were gentle and reverent, and sometimes they said the name of another woman as they came, before they started crying. It was all very random, and she prayed every time that she was confined to her room for the night that they would be decent and few and far between.

The reason that she liked working the floor so much instead of staying in her room was because at least then she could pick who would sleep with her that night. She knew she was pretty, and therefore most of the time she always got the man she wanted. Audrey decided to herself one night as she led a half drunk businessman to her room, that if college offered a course on getting what you wanted, she would pass with flying colors-- and then get a degree in it before moving on to becoming a professor for said course. That had made her smile a bit before the strange man she had hung around while he played poker kissed it away.

Sadly, this night was no different, and as she fixed her long black dress and playing card that was pinned to the strap of her dress, she hoped that she would get at least one decent man to walk through her door tonight. But when has she ever been so lucky? She sighed and walked to put on a record before going to lay back on her chaise lounge sofa to wait for the first man to walk in.

* * *

 

 Dale Cooper was very nervous, and for obvious reasons. None of this had been his idea, and he felt guilty for things he hadn’t done yet, the moment him and his pals pulled into the parking lot of One Eyed Jack’s. His groomsmen were all very jovial of course, and his best man punched him in the arm to get him to lighten up. “Come on, Coop! This’ll be fun!” said Harry Truman, his best man.

Cooper chuckled nervously, “I don’t know about this Harry.”

“Aw, come on Dale, its your bachelor party! You’re supposed to do this kind of stuff!” piped up Hawk as he got out of the car.

“Well, alright,” Cooper agreed reluctantly as he got out of the car to follow behind the rest of his group of friends. They walked into the casino, and Cooper tugged lightly on his suit collar before swallowing nervously. He didn’t know why he was so stressed out; its not like Annie’s bachelorette party was going to be so different in nature. In fact, she had been very hesitant to tell him about anything she had planned to do tonight with her bridesmaids. It was a tradition, a common ritual for any wedding, and Cooper was anything but disrespectful to traditions on the whole. He had agreed to doing this tonight anyway-- his friends weren’t holding a gun to his head. With this reasoning in his mind, Cooper followed Harry, Hawk, Ed, and Andy into the main floor of One Eyed Jack’s. They all had quite a bit of money in their pockets, and so Cooper resolved to just spending the night gambling; there was no serious moral harm in that, nothing that could possibly make him feel guilty as he watched his bride walk down the aisle at his wedding in a week. He took a deep breath as Harry led him around, and an older lady walked up to the pair of them, dressed in all black, smirking as if she already had plans for them before she knew their names.

“Hello, gentlemen. Is there anything I can do for you tonight?” She asked gracefully, glancing between them, maintaining perfect eye contact.

Cooper managed a polite smile as Harry swung an arm around his shoulders and said, “Well, miss, tonight is my friend here’s bachelor party.” Harry smiled proudly when the woman looked at Cooper with raised eyebrows, and Cooper barely managed not to blush when she appraised him up and down.

“Well, let me be the first to say congratulations,” said the woman. “I’m sure the bride is a very lucky lady. My name is Blackie. Come to me if you fellas ever need anything.”

Blackie winked at them and smiled before sauntering away. Harry watched her go before turning a smile onto Cooper. “Well, Coop, what do you want to do first?”

Dale shrugged and looked around. “I guess I’d like to play some blackjack, if that’s alright. And maybe get a drink.”

Harry nodded, “It’s up to you, buddy. I’ll get you that drink.” Dale nodded gratefully before turning away as Harry approached the bar. Looking around, Cooper saw many different things going on: there were some tables for blackjack and other card games, a few poker games, some slots, and plenty of beautiful girls hanging on the arms of men. He caught sight of Ed trying to flag him down over by a card table, and he smiled and walked over to him to get in on the action. He was starting to relax, finally, if only just a little bit.

* * *

 

 Audrey moaned in fake pleasure as the man on top of her pulled out and rolled over, breathing heavily. He was only her second customer, and she was already feeling a little bit sick. He had to be at least sixty years old.

She rolled to face him and smiled, “Have a good time, daddy?”

God, it was sickening; the guy had explicitly asked her to call him daddy, and she wasn’t sure if she could go for much longer.

He looked at her and smiled contently, “Oh yeah, kitten.”

Kitten? Really? Although, she supposed it wasn’t the worst thing she’s been called on the job. But she was done, and he had had the time he payed for.

“Alright, well, I gotta go now, daddy, but I’ll see you later, okay?” She smiled and patted his chest before getting off the bed to grab her discarded dress and head into the bathroom. She turned and winked at him before closing the bathroom door, in order to make sure that he was at least pulling up his pants already. This wasn’t a damn hotel. When she closed the door, she breathed out and leaned against the door, closing her eyes for a bit. She sighed before she stood up and faced the sink and mirror, cupping cold water to splash on her face. She heard the door close in the other room as she turned off the faucet. She dried her face with a towel before looking at her reflection in the mirror, sighing at the red marks on her throat and her smeared red lipstick. She grabbed her makeup bag and reapplied everything, foundation and eyeliner and all, returning to the pristine porcelain doll she was supposed to look like. She tried to salvage her hair, which wasn’t that bad, thanks to those old guys not pulling her hair. She slipped back into her silk black dress before returning to the main room to replay the same record and sit on the same chair until the next guy came in. But the next time the door did open, it was Blackie, and Audrey sat up straighter.

“Audrey, I think I’ve got someone you might actually like entertaining, tonight,” Blackie said by way of greeting as she walked into the room. This perked Audrey’s interest-- it was rare for Blackie to hand pick customers for her employees.

“Really? Tell me more,” Audrey said, leaning forward a bit, putting on her smile that worked best with raised eyebrows.

Blackie obliged, “Well, its his bachelor party, and I thought I would give him a little wedding present.”

She smiled as she looked at Audrey, obviously implying that Audrey was going to be the present. Audrey smiled wider to show her agreement and said in a sultry voice, “Bring him on in.”

* * *

 

 Cooper was very against the idea, even in his half-inebriated state. “No, no, no, I will be doing no such thing,” he said as he attempted to push against the beefy wall that was his friends. But this did nothing, for they continued to push him after Blackie, who was currently leading them through the halls.

“Oh, come on Cooper! This is your last chance to do anything like this!” Harry persisted.

“You don’t want to be impolite and not take the gift, do you?” Blackie added.

They had stopped walking down the hall, and Cooper deduced that the girl was on the other side of the door they were standing by. His friends all seemed a bit too excited for him to have sex with a strange girl. He just wished that his head wasn’t so foggy. He attempted to push his way to sobriety and came out only slightly more able to function properly. They were all looking at him so expectantly. He readjusted his suit slightly and stood up straighter, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to agree to. Damn his mother for raising him to be polite.

“Alright, fine. For your sakes,” he said, and his friends cheered as Blackie smiled wide.

“Perfect,” Blackie purred. “The Queen of Diamonds is on the other side, sir.”

Cooper took a deep breath and let it out as he faced the door, his drunken friends hooting inappropriately. He stepped forward and turned the knob, stepping into the room. When he walked down the short hall towards the larger space of the room, he became very sober when he saw what was waiting for him.

* * *

 

When Audrey heard the door knob turning, she breathed out and lay back on her sofa, stretching out to her most seductive pose, preparing for her special customer. She heard the footsteps approaching, and her breath caught in her throat when the most gorgeous man she had ever seen walked into the room. Her first thought was that he looked like a movie star, with a bow tie and tux, and slicked-back black hair. Something about him caused her heart to race, her cheeks began to heat up, and she felt something stir in her stomach. This was not normal at all. He was not supposed to be so attractive. This wasn’t fair. She had to remain professional.

However, her customer was throwing a wrench in her professionalism with the way that he had frozen in the doorway, staring back at her. His pupils had gone wide, and Aubrey recognized something strange between them. Something awful.

“Hi,” He managed after a few moments of strained quiet.

“Hello,” she managed to reply.

They remained frozen, him in the doorway, her on the couch. There was silence except for the jazz record she had playing on the turntable.

“What song is this?” The stranger said out of nowhere, seeming to shake himself out of a spell. He brushed back his suit jacket in order to put his hands in his pockets. Audrey thought that he looked like James Bond.

Audrey managed to reply, sitting up slowly, dragging her fingers over the couch cushions, still putting on a show for work. “Oh, this? This is just my favorite song,” she said lowly, not breaking the intense eye contact they had going.

A few more minutes of charged silence passed before Audrey said, “What’s your name?”

“Cooper,” the man said, but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat, “Dale Cooper.”

God, he even talked like a secret agent, like James Bond. Audrey had to catch her breath for a moment.

“So what do you want me to call you? You’ve given me two names, sweetheart,” Audrey replied smartly. He smiled, seeming to relax minutely.

“Just Dale is fine,” he answered as he walked a bit further into the room. His approach made Audrey’s heart speed up. She swallowed thickly.

“And what is your name? Queen of Diamonds, correct?” Dale said.

He had walked around her couch, and up to the record player behind her. She turned to watch him over her shoulder, keeping in mind which ways she looked the most attractive. And older-- she didn’t want her age to scare him off.

“Audrey. That’s my name,” She replied, losing to the urge to tell him her real name. It was completely unprofessional and dangerous, according to Blackie.

He had his back to her, watching the record spin, when he cut right to the chase and said, “Look, Audrey, I’m getting married soon.”

“I know,” Audrey cut in. This made Dale turn around to look at her, slight surprise showing on his face. She looked up at him through her lashes (a killer move) and he had to look away, his jaw clenching as if biting back on the impulse to do something he would regret. But, Audrey got paid for being the “something men regret.” Audrey decided that now would be a good time to make her move and get the job done before any more damage could happen to her. She stood up and walked around the couch, swaying slightly to the music, brushing her fingers over her shoulders and throat, and stood as close to him as possible. She looked up into his eyes, before continuing to sway to the jazz. She tried to ignore the way her heart had leapt up into her throat at the deepness of his eyes. She had a job to do.

“You’re getting married soon,” she stated softly, reaching up to trace his jaw with one finger, watching his eyes widen, his throat swallow. “But is that going to stop you from kissing me?”

She had him. Dale brought his hands up to her face, and leaned down to kiss her fiercely, catching Audrey off guard. The intensity of it was surprising; she had at least expected him to be hesitant, for a betrothed man. She scrambled for purchase on his neck, his shoulders, until finally she settled with pulling him closer by the lapels of his suit. He was kissing her so passionately that she didn’t know what to do. She had never been kissed like this before; she had never been kissed so that it almost tricked her into thinking that they were in love, not following a business transaction. He pressed into her, and she leaned back onto the back of the couch. She managed to lead him to the bed without breaking the kiss. It was hot and heavy, and they breathed harshly through their noses, kissing and kissing. He pushed her softly down on the soft bed, and she sighed as he moved onto marking up her neck. It seemed that he had lost all reservations, and Audrey had never been treated this way in all her life. It was wonderful.

Later, as Dale got dressed quietly and slipped from the room quietly, looking at her softly, reverently, Audrey decided that that night was when she had lost her virginity. It may have been naive, but she believed she had experienced what making love was like, not having sex. She told Blackie that she didn’t want to see any other customers for the rest of the night. She burrowed under the blankets of the bed, and traced her lips softly with her fingers, sighing sweetly until she fell asleep.

* * *

 

 “Alright Dale Cooper!” Hollered Harry when Cooper returned to the casino. Cooper smiled slightly, but he felt dazed, like a spell had settled over his head. Harry and the others clapped and cheered (really? Applause for having sex with someone other than his fiance?), and Cooper walked over to the group of them at the bar, holding his suit jacket over his arm, his bowtie shoved into his pants pocket.

“How’d it go?” Ed questioned when Dale reached them.

“Actually fellas,” Cooper started. “I think I’d like to go home now, if you don’t mind.”

They all shared worried glances with each other, watching Dale gaze off at a random point on the red carpet. He did look pretty disheveled, with a lock of hair hanging down over his forehead, and his dress shirt unbuttoned towards the top. Anyone who knew Dale Cooper, knew that he rarely showed people himself in this sort of state.

“Yeah, okay buddy,” Harry said, clapping Cooper on the shoulder, leading the group of them outside.

Blackie caught them leaving and called out after them, “See you later, boys!”

They all murmured polite replies, except for Cooper, whose face looked like he was trying to figure out a complex riddle or question, his brow furrowed deeply. They walked to the car, and drove back to Twin Peaks, leaving behind One Eyed Jack’s.


	2. The Second Night (In Which The Line Between Right and Wrong is Further Blurred)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Am I cheating on Annie? Is that what this is?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright here's chapter 2! I'm not quite sure how many chapters there will be, but I believe I have 4 or 5 written currently (and I don't think that they're super long either).  
> Again, I appologize if any of this out of character; Cooper and Audrey are just exquisite characters that can be hard to grasp.  
> Comments are greatly appreciated!

When Cooper woke up the next day, he cursed. It all came rushing back to the forefront of his mind, and he felt like he was going to be sick with guilt. Annie slept peacefully next to him, her back turned to him, and he felt like he needed to shower to wash it all off. He rolled out of bed, surprised when he wasn’t hit with a hangover, and got up, heading for the bathroom. He thought it over in the shower, everything, and nothing seemed to make sense. Had he really done that? To Annie? He had told himself that he would remain detached from the whole transaction, had tried to keep his self-control, but that girl (Audrey, his mind helpfully reminded him), had gotten to him. There was a quality about her that pulled him in, that he had been so easily drawn to, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He figured that maybe it was everything. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was her smile. Maybe it was the adrenaline of gambling, maybe it was her unconventional beauty. But all he knew, was that instead of thinking of getting ready for his wedding in a few days, he was thinking of seeing her again. He cursed again.

 

* * *

 

 

Audrey was woken up the next day by a coworker shaking her shoulder.

“Audrey, what the hell are you doing? You don’t freaking live here,” said Shelby, the aforementioned co-worker.

Audrey sat up slowly, squinting at the daylight they had let into the room, the sheets slipping down her chest. “What?” She questioned stupidly, before she remembered, and cursed. Shelby crossed her arms, “Yeah, ‘shit’ is right. You’re supposed to be home, girl!”

Audrey stretched her arms above her head and laughed. “Oh please. My mom doesn’t care where I am. She’s probably too drunk to notice I’m gone anyways.”

“Yeah, well, either way, you don’t live here full time, like some of us do. So get out, before Blackie knows you’re still here!”

This caused Audrey to move, and she darted out of bed, grabbing her discarded clothes off of the floor and dashed into the bathroom. She put on her regular clothes and grabbed her purse, leaving out the back door of the casino before anyone else could catch her. She got in her borrowed car and went home, not having any time to think about anything or anyone, at all. It wasn’t until she was doing her homework that she really thought about anything that had happened, which was strange enough in and of itself. She never thought about her customers, unless it was in disgust. Which was definitely not the case this time. God, that Dale guy had been dreamy. The whole encounter hadn’t seemed real, honestly; it had been her first time feeling real pleasure, real attraction. That sort of romantic stuff just didn’t happen in her line of work. But yet it had, and to her of all people. She thought it was like some sort of cliche, like a dumb movie she wouldn’t watch on TV. But she had to get over it, she told herself. He was getting married. She probably would never see him again, anyways. With this resolve, she got ready for another night at work, pushing back the hope that he would be there again that night.

 

* * *

 

 

Cooper was endlessly distracted the entire day at work, barely able to even file the most basic of paperwork that deputies rarely had to do. Harry must have noticed, because he came up to him as Dale leaned against the wall, sipping his coffee with more concentration than usual.

“Is everything okay, Coop?” Harry asked nonchalantly, trying not to make Cooper feel cornered.

“Actually no, Harry. I think I may have a problem,” Cooper replied, barely managing to look Harry in the eye as he said it. Like the good friend he was, Harry was immediately concerned and attentive.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Cooper set down his coffee, a sure sign that he meant serious business.

“You know that girl you guys set me up with last night?”

Harry nodded, still listening. “Yeah, what about her? Coop, I swear if you’re just feeling guilty, it's no big deal! Every man does this before his wedding--”

“I understand that Harry,” Cooper cut him off. “But something... happened.”

Harry’s brow furrowed, “Was it serious? Did somebody get hurt? I don’t understand.”

Cooper picked up his mug of coffee again, and sipped at it, looking at a spot on the wall. “Neither do I, Harry. Neither do I.”

 

Hours later, Dale berated himself for what he was doing, even as he walked in the doors of One Eyed Jack’s for the second night in a row.

 

* * *

 

 

Audrey felt at ease as she wandered the main floor of the casino, toying with whoever she wished, feeling powerful. She thanked her lucky stars that Blackie hadn’t banished her to a room tonight. In all honesty, Audrey wasn’t sure how much longer she could work at One Eyed Jack’s in general. It was getting old, but she only had to work for a little while longer to have enough money to go to college, and get a better life for herself. She was so close, and that was the only thing that helped her smile at the drunk men that got too handsy with her.

It was actually while she was handing out drinks to a party that was crowded around a loud game of roulette, when she saw him walk in the door. She saw Dale as she raised her head up, and her breath caught in her throat (again) and her heart began to race (again), and she became aware of the feeling that she was afraid. Of course he still looked very, very handsome in a nice black tuxedo, but she was curious as to why he was back-- and why he was alone this time. Wasn’t he supposed to be getting ready for a wedding or something?

Even as she thought this, he noticed her, and the most pleasant smile broke across his face. She smiled back as she tilted her chin up, raising an eyebrow as if in a challenge. He began to approach her at the table, and Audrey excused herself from the rich man that probably thought he was going to bang her that night. She met him halfway, still playing hostess by holding up her drink tray, and smiled.

“You’re back,” she said by way of greeting, and she smiled knowingly at him.

“Yes, I am,” he answered matter of factly. “Though, I don’t really know why.” He said this while looking at her deeply, and something in his face changed; Audrey would say that he looked almost in awe of her, if she didn’t know any better.

She laughed lightly, “Probably couldn’t get enough of me, hmm?” She winked at him playfully, and he smiled. She decided that he had a very nice smile, one that crinkles his eyes without aging him. She liked it.

“Probably,” he admitted quietly. They gazed at each other for a few moments before Audrey had to clear her throat to break the spell.

“Well, would you like a drink?” She said, returning to professionalism, as she lowered the tray so that he could take a drink off of it.

“I would, thank you,” he said as he took an offered glass, smiling. Audrey thought it was funny how polite he was for somebody who had sex with her just the night before. Just then, another hostess passed by, and Audrey stopped her to hand her the drinks.

“Could you bring this to the party for me, Jane? I’m going to entertain this fine gentleman here, for a while,” she said, giving Jane a look. Jane returned a knowing smile, before taking the tray from Audrey. “Of course, darling,” she said. She flashed Dale a smile. “Have fun.”

Jane walked away and Audrey turned back to Dale, smiling. She raised her eyebrows expectantly, giving a small, challenging smile, swaying almost like an impatient little girl. Dale returned her smile as he held up the crook of his arm for her to take, and as he led her away he said, “Have you ever played a game of blackjack, Audrey?”

 

* * *

 

 

Am I cheating on Annie? Is that what this is? Dale thought to himself as he kissed Audrey’s neck later that evening. They had had a lovely time out in the casino, and he had won each round of blackjack that he played, her cheering everytime he got the right card. It had started out as if they were friends, he supposed, her leaning in and listening to him instructing her on how the game went, clutching his arm, leaning against him where he sat at the table. She was smart, he had discovered, when she would whisper in his ear exactly what she thought he had to do to win at this game of chance. He was surprised by her wit and charm, and he caught himself marveling at her beauty more than once. He asked himself quite a few times that night: what exactly was he doing there? Annie was probably wondering why he wasn’t at home. But no matter how much his mind had reminded him of the fact that what he was doing was wrong, he just couldn’t pull away from Audrey.

The next thing he knew, she was leading him into a dim room, and then they were pulling at each other, tugging and wanting and kissing, and honestly, Dale couldn’t think of a single place he would rather be. He thought it all felt like some strange and glamorous dream as he pulled down the zipper of Audrey’s silky dress, but later as he snuck out of the room at around one in the morning, Blackie was standing outside the door, looking at him expectantly. His glamorous dream crumbled and crashed when he realized that she was waiting for him to pay for his time with Audrey. He bitterly piled some bills into her outstretched hand, way more than what he should be paying. It was the least he could do to show that he did not think Audrey was worthless. God, what are you doing, Cooper?

Blackie must have gotten the message as she counted the money, raising a drawn eyebrow at him. She stuffed the money into her bra as she approached him, attempting to intimidate him.

“She’s just a whore,” Blackie said quietly, meaningfully, to Dale’s face, and his jaw clenched. He was getting himself in trouble, and he knew it. He thought he kind of felt like he was watching a train go at full speed towards broken tracks. He knew the tracks led off the edge of the cliff, but he felt that he had run out of time to stop it.

 

 


	3. The Third Night (In Which Two Hearts Move Further and Further In The Wrong (Or Right?) Direction)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She looked out of the kitchen window as she leaned a hip against the sink. She rubbed her arms. “You know, what’s even stranger is... I feel like we shouldn’t be seeing each other right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay here's chapter 3! Apparently I was wrong when I said I had multiple short chapters written, because this is really long, and as far as I've gotten. But the story should be wrapped up in about two more chapters? Three more? We'll see, so please keep checking in, I'm trying to post new chapters at the beginning of the week.

“How long does it take to fall in love, Donna?” Audrey asked, gazing out of the classroom window dreamily. Donna looked at her curiously.

"Oh, I wouldn’t know anything about that, Audrey,” Donna answered innocently in that way of hers. Sweet, sweet, Donna.

“I don’t think it takes very long at all,” Laura added into the conversation from her seat next to Donna. Audrey turned to look at her, surprised, and Laura had a strange smile on her face, a strange look in her eye.

“What makes you say that?” Audrey inquired, her hand that she had been resting her chin on falling to her desk. Laura stopped looking at a random point and directly into Audrey’s eyes. Something in her eyes caused Audrey to think that she had never fallen in love, yet fallen in love too many times.

“Because I’ve seen it happen,” Laura answered cryptically. Her gaze felt blank to Audrey, but Audrey understood perfectly what Laura meant. Donna broke the intensity.

“Well, why do you ask, Audrey?” She smiled like she was embarrassed. “Do you have your eye on anyone?”

Audrey looked at her and the corners of her mouth curled in what could almost be called a smile.

“Something like that.”

Just then, the bell rang, and the girls gathered their things along with the rest of the class that poured out of the doorway and into the hall. Audrey was bumped into and pushed slightly more than once on her way to her locker, but she couldn’t care less. She was dragging her feet as if she was sleepy, and her face looked like it was caught in the most wonderful dream, which was what her life felt like at the moment. A wonderful dream she didn’t want to wake up from. Audrey hated her own reality anyway; too much stress and hurt. She liked the world that she and Dale had seemed to escape to every time they had been together. How strange that it seemed that a stranger was her ticket away? Her chance at escape was through staying at the place she liked the least. She hated working at One-Eyed Jack’s, but if that’s where Dale knew to find her, then she would stay as long as he kept coming back.

* * *

 

 

“Where were you last night?” Annie asked quietly, sweetly, from where she stood next to the sink, drying a cup in her hands. Dale breathed out-- he knew the question had been coming. He also knew how much it took for Annie to ask it. He looked up at her from where he sat at their kitchen table, and smiled.

“Oh, I was just out with the boys again. Work stuff,” he lied. He hoped his guilt wasn’t so transparent.  She nodded as she put down the cup on the counter to dry.

“I just wish you had told me, that’s all,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. Dale stood up and approached her.

“I know, and I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, it wasn’t anything serious.” Liar.

“Well, that’s good,” Annie said as she wrapped her arms around Dale’s waist, laying her head on his chest. He set his chin on her head and rubbed her back. How sick are you?

“So, wedding,” he began as he pulled away, grabbing his empty mug and dirty plate off of the table to put in the sink. “Only a few days away.”

Annie smiled. “I know. How strange.” She looked out of the kitchen window as she leaned a hip against the sink. She rubbed her arms. “You know, what’s even stranger is... I feel like we shouldn’t be seeing each other right now.”

“W-What do you mean?” Dale asked worriedly.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Annie laughed softly. “I guess it just feels like its already bad luck, you know? Like how the bride and groom aren’t allowed to see each other before the ceremony on the wedding day? I guess I got that feeling a little bit earlier than normal.”

Dale placed a hand on his hip, suppressing a sudden surge of hope. “Well, if it’s strong enough that you feel that we should act on it, I can stay with Harry until the wedding. Or you can stay with Norma.”

Annie seemed to think about this momentarily before she answered, almost insecurely. “Could we? That seems right.”

“Sure, if you feel that way,” Dale said. “I can pack my things and stay at Harry’s until Saturday--”

“No,” Annie cut him off. “I think I’ll go to Norma’s. You can stay here.”

Dale walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Okay.” I’m so sorry.

Within a half hour, Dale was ready for work, and Annie was ready to leave for across town. She held her suitcase in one hand, and the large black bag holding her wedding dress in the other, while Dale pinned his deputy badge to the pocket of his flannel. They stood in the small entryway by the front door, and Dale grabbed the car keys from the table beneath the hallway mirror. He looked at Annie, and she looked at him simply, her face blank like there was no barrier between her emotions and her expressions. He smiled at her and said, “Ready to go?” He was going to drop her off at Norma’s before driving over to the police station. She smiled and nodded. Dale held the door open for her and followed her down their driveway to the car. She loaded her luggage into the back as Dale got the car running, and they were driving down main street in a few minutes. As Dale watched Annie walk up to Norma’s front door, he sighed and tried his hardest to suppress his feeling of excitement. He should not have been so happy about being alone for a week. Well, he supposed he wasn’t going to be all alone, he thought as a beautiful red smile drifted through his mind.

* * *

 

 

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” asked Jane that night as she and Audrey did their makeup together in the common room all the girls shared sometimes. Audrey sighed and smiled bigger as she applied her winged eyeliner.

“Nothing.”

Jane put down her blush brush and squinted at Audrey for a few moments before realization seemed to dawn on her. She cocked her hip and put a hand on it.

“Audrey, is this about that customer you’ve had for two nights in a row?”

Audrey smiled and huffed a small laugh as she applied black eyeshadow to one eye. That was answer enough for Jane, and she became very serious, plopping down to sit next to Audrey and leaning in, speaking in low tones so as to not be overheard by any of the other girls.

“Audrey, do not get involved with him. Sure, he’s very, very attractive, and believe me, if I had a chance at that ass, I would take it before you could blink. But trust me-- it is bad news to get romantically involved with a customer, handsome or not.”

Audrey rolled her eyes as she finished her other eyelid, “Jane, its not that big of a deal. I just kind of like him, okay?”

“Yeah, and I just kind of like sushi, but can I afford it? No.”

Audrey put down her makeup brush and looked at Jane exasperatedly. “Jane, don’t worry about it. He’s getting married soon anyways. it’s just going to be one of those things that are nice while they last.”

Jane squinted at her again for a few moments before huffing and turning to continue applying her makeup in the mirror. “Just don’t let Blackie find out that you’re falling in love with a paying customer.”

* * *

 

 

Dale found himself facing a strange dilemma at around ten o’clock that night as he sat in his car in the parking lot of One Eyed Jack’s. He wasn’t dressed quite as nice as the past two nights, but he still wore a suit. He hardly had enough money to pay for anything however, and he had two take out cups of chocolate malts from the Double R. He hadn’t really known what he was thinking when he had bought the malts, but it must’ve been along the lines of trying to make a real date out of the night with Audrey. And even that thought process in and of itself was crazy. But he had gotten that far, so he supposed he might as well continue on with the plan. He got out of the car with his wallet and the two drinks, walking away from the main entrance and around the side, figuring that he could find a back door somewhere. When he did, there was a large guard standing in front of it, and he had to stop and hide in some bushes to figure out how he was supposed to get inside. Just then, a limousine pulled up to the backdoor, and Cooper watched as some important looking men emerged from the back. He figured that he could try to go in with the group, but he knew that he would stand out too much because of the drink cups in his hands. He decided to wait and see what happened. The men walked up to the guard, who seemed to recognize them and let them in, following them inside. Cooper waited a few minutes before going to the back door himself, and entered, making sure to remain unseen and unheard. He reached a corridor that he recognized and stood there in the shadows for a few seconds trying to pinpoint exactly where he was in the casino. Some girls walked past him, each on one arm of an old man who was telling them a bad joke from what Cooper could hear. He decided to follow them down the hall, since they seemed to be taking him to a private room. Now he definitely recognized the hallway. He looked at each door, looking for the one with the Queen of Diamonds playing card on it. He found it and smiled, feeling his heart begin to race at the thought of Audrey on the other side. He knocked on the door lightly, and said in a loud whisper, “Audrey? Are you in there?”

* * *

 

 

Audrey’s head jerked up at the sound of Dale’s voice, and her eyes widened comically. The man on top of her stopped kissing her stomach and looked up when he heard the noise also. There was another knock and, “Audrey? It’s me, Dale.”

“What is going on--” said the man before Audrey shoved him off of her.

“You have to go,” she said hurriedly as she got up from the bed and zipped up her tight red dress. The man seemed dazed and slightly angry at being rudely interrupted, and therefore hadn’t moved at all from the bed. Audrey sighed in frustration before stopping her flurry around the room to face the man with a pleasant, however false, smile. She walked towards him and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips. She pulled away and stroked his hair, saying, “You have to go now okay? This is a very important meeting with the casino’s owner.” She made up that little lie quickly and hoped it wouldn’t spiral out of control. The man finally seemed to understand, because he began to move, zipping up his pants and standing up, fixing his hair a bit.

“Well, I would like to say a few things to him, if that’s the case--”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Audrey said as she nearly pushed him toward the door. When they reached the door, Audrey pulled it open and pushed the man into a very surprised Dale, who almost spilled the cups he was holding. The man was ruffled but pulled himself together to say a few things to “the casino owner” just before Audrey yanked Dale through the door, slamming it shut. Audrey immediately was on Dale as soon as the door was shut and locked, kissing him fiercely even though Dale was obviously trying to say something to her.

“Audrey-” he tried to say against her mouth, but she was insistent.

“Dale, I missed you-” she said between hot kisses, and he smiled before gently prying her away from his face before he could drop the drinks and lose control.

“Audrey, please,” he said, and she stopped and pulled back, looking at him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly. He smiled that incredible smile of his and said, “Nothing,” before going back in for another, firmer kiss. They were smiling against each other’s mouths and Dale pulled away again to hold up the malts.

“I hope you like chocolate,” he said and Audrey smiled and laughed, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to cry.

“Yes,” she laughed wetly, and tears began to spill over. “Yes, I love chocolate.”

Her tears made Dale instantly concerned and he managed to find a small table to set the drinks down on before returning his attention to Audrey, taking her face in his hands, swiping at the escaping tears with his thumbs.

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he asked, eyes studying her face. She laughed wetly again and sniffed, before laughing again, her hand going up to clutch his hand that was resting on her cheek.

“I don’t know,” she laughed. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”

He wrapped her in his arms as she went through a strange mix of laughter and sniffles, wiping at her face continually, trying to stop the tears from flowing. He rubbed her back and murmured comforting things until she drew away from his embrace once she had gotten herself back under control. She laughed again as she looked at his face and she kissed him adoringly, in so much disbelief that this man could be so perfect. She breathed out and got control over her emotions once more before she said, “Why are you doing this?”

Dale had been smiling at her before she said this. His smile dropped and he looked at her in confusion.

“Doing what?”

“Being nice to me! Liking me! Bringing me milkshakes!” She burst. “I’m just some whore that you slept with, and you’re just some guy who’s getting married soon!”

Dale took in her words and seemed to think about them for a moment. “If I knew, I would tell you--”

Audrey sighed in frustration, pulling away from him, but he pressed on.

“Audrey, I don’t know why I’m doing this, but I do know that I can’t seem to stop thinking about you.”

This made Audrey stop and look at him.

Dale huffed. “I know that I can’t stop thinking about you, and that I may be feeling things for you that a soon-to-be-married man shouldn’t be feeling about another woman, but I can’t... stop.”

Audrey looked at his face, and saw the way that he felt about her in his eyes. She also saw the way that he felt utterly trapped, and she knew it was her fault.

“What I want and what I need are two very different things... but for some reason, none of that seems to matter when it comes to you,” Dale admitted quietly. He looked defeated, and Audrey just looked at him as another tear slipped down her face. Then he perked up all of a sudden, trying to put both of them back together.

“So! You and I are going to sit on that bed,” he pointed to the bed behind Audrey before he moved to pick up the malts which were surely already melted. “And we are going to talk,” he smiled as he handed Audrey a cup and she huffed a small laugh. She swiped at her face and smiled up at him.

“That sounds wonderful.”

* * *

 

 

“Excuse me, miss?” came a timid voice from across the room. Blackie looked up from what she had been doing at her desk in exasperation and said, “What?” harshly before she realized that she was speaking to a customer. He looked attacked and she tried to reel it back in with a gracious smile.

“Yes? How can I help you, sir?” she said in a nicer tone and he stepped forward, holding his hat in his hands.

“I would like to put in a complaint, I suppose,” he said, and Blackie’s eyes narrowed, wondering who she would have to fire or harass this time.

“I’m listening.”

“Well,” he began nervously, looking at everywhere in the room except for at Blackie. “I was with one of the girls-- Queen of Diamonds, I believe-- and we were having a good time I guess, but then someone knocked on the door and wanted to come in. To see the girl I was with!” With that out in the open, it all seemed to rush out of the small man.

“And at first I thought, well that’s not fair, I’m paying for my time right now, this guy should just come back later! But the girl seemed to know who it was and she shoved me off of her! Then she was running around the room and telling me to get dressed and well, I got quite angry! But then she said that it was the owner of this establishment-”

This made Blackie narrow her eyes even more.

“-so of course I would oblige and let them have the room I suppose, so I got dressed and then your girl all but threw me out of her door, into the owner himself! I was quite flustered at being handled and pushed around in such a way, but I managed to think of something I would like to say to the owner, and nice handshake I guess, but then your girl was slamming the door shut behind me, with the owner!”

The man let out a breath at the end of his spiel, and finally looked at Blackie. “And, well, it all seemed very suspicious to me.”

Blackie had been thinking very hard as the man had explained, and she smiled at him when he had finished, saying, “Thank you for telling me this, sir. I promise to fully reimburse everything that you had payed for your time with the Queen of Diamonds, if you had already payed her. Now if you’ll excuse me--”

She began to lead him to the door, “I need to go see the owner of this place myself.”

Blackie knew exactly what was going on. And she intended to stop it.

* * *

 

 

“So the second penguin said to the first penguin, ‘maybe I am’,” Dale said and Audrey threw her head back and laughed, and he smiled triumphantly at her. Just then, loud knocking came at the door.

“Audrey!” came a shout from the other side. It was Blackie. Audrey’s eyes opened comically and her and Dale both froze where they were.

“Audrey! Let me in!”

“Uhhh,” Audrey said, before she looked at Dale and made a loud groan. “Oh! Oh yes!”

Dale made a face, scrunching his nose, before she mouthed at him to play along.

“Oh-Oh yeah!” he said, faking the sounds of two people very much deeply in the middle of intercourse. Audrey giggled quietly before she moaned again.

“Yes! Give me more!” She yelled, smiling huge, barely suppressing her laughter. Dale continued to play along and got up off of the bed, only to rock it back and forth with his arms, making sure the headboard hit the wall.

“Oh yeah! That’s it!” he shouted, and he almost died laughing at the ridiculous situation he was in. Audrey this time did laugh, but not loud enough to be heard by Blackie. Her and Dale looked at each other as they made these fake noises, and it was so ridiculous and stupid, but it was the most fun Audrey had had in a very long time.

* * *

 

 

Blackie heard loud moans coming from the room just as she had raised her hand to knock again. She had been about to barge in, but when she heard the noises, she stopped herself. She listened some more; it sounded real. Blackie squinted her eyes in suspicion at the wooden door, before she turned away to head back down the hall and away from the room.

She would deal with Audrey later.

* * *

 

 

Dale kept making awfully obscene noises as Audrey giggled quietly and approached the door to peak out and see if Blackie was still there. She poked her head out, and when she didn’t see her, she closed the door again and looked at Dale to give him a thumbs up, smiling. He stopped making terrible sounds and stopped pushing the bed, and stood up straight, looking at Audrey for a moment before he burst into laughter. Audrey followed his lead and laughed along, laughing at the situation they had just been in and how awful they both sounded.

“You said such awful things!” Audrey managed to say in between laughs, curling over on the bed. Dale flopped down on the bed next to her and laughed, although not quite as hard anymore.

“Yes, I know, and believe me, I would never say those things during sex, ever,” said Dale. Audrey grew sober at his words and something fluttered in her stomach. She looked at him seriously, and said, “I know.”

Dale looked at her and his eyes widened at her suggestive tone, before he realized that she did know; they had had sex before. Twice, in fact. Audrey sat up and looked down at him on the bed, her eyes going dark. Dale thought that maybe they should do it one more time, and Audrey seemed to think the same thing because she was kissing him heatedly within seconds. Annie never crossed his mind once that night.


	4. The Fourth Night (In Which it is Discovered that Separation is Truly Destructive)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Audrey seemed to have placed him under a spell that only broke when she stumbled half naked and bloodied into the police station around midnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short? Only a few more chapters though :) I hope you guys are liking it!

“Where’s my money?” was the thing that woke Audrey up in the morning, followed by the sound of the door hitting the wall. She sat up blearily and saw Blackie charge into the room, followed by a beefy security guard.

“Huh?” she murmured as she sat up in the bed, the sheets slipping down her bare chest. Blackie charged up to the bedside and glared down at Audrey.

“I said, where’s my money?”

Audrey gave her a confused look, “What money?”

Blackie make a frustrated noise in her throat and yanked Audrey out of the bed. Audrey attempted to cover her naked body with a blanket, but Blackie just pinched her chin between her hand, forcing Audrey’s head to face Blackie.

“I said, where’s my money, you slut,” Blackie gritted out. Audrey still looked confused, so she squeezed her face harder and explained. “You had a customer last night, which you kicked out for whatever reason, for another customer. So,” she clenched Audrey’s chin until Audrey cried out against her will, “Where’s the money, from that oh-so-special customer?”

Audrey’s eyes grew wide and she looked towards the night stand, noticing the absence of cash. Dammit, Dale.

She looked down before she admitted quietly, “I don’t have it.”

“You don’t have it,” Blackie repeated flatly.

“No.”

“And why, don’t you have it?”

“Because he didn’t pay me.”

“Why didn’t he pay you?” Blackie thundered.

Audrey managed to shove Blackie away, standing exposed, yet angry, and she shouted, “Because he doesn’t think I’m a piece of trash!”

Blackie paused and looked at Audrey appraisingly, calculating. “Oh really? Is that what this is?”

Audrey gaped and didn’t know what to say, feeling a sense of oncoming doom.

Blackie tsked at her, approaching her slowly as if she were some pathetic, stupid child.

“Oh, you poor girl. You really thought that falling in love with a customer was going to be a good idea?”

Audrey scowled and tried to fight down her blush, but Blackie only smiled in disgusting triumph. She looked at the guard and nodded towards Audrey. The guard then surged towards Audrey and managed to wrestle her arms behind her back, Audrey kicking and yelling, attempting to wiggle out of the beefy man’s arms. She suddenly felt a pinch in her upper arm, and her vision became blurry, Blackie becoming the only thing she could see.

“You know, I could just fire you,” Blackie said, considering. Then she smiled malevolently. “But that just wouldn’t be enough.”

Audrey blacked out.

  
  


***

  
  


Dale had gone to work the next day feeling great, feeling the best he had in a long time, and for some reason, he had stretched beyond guilt and no longer cared, something that should be considered dangerous. It was reckless for him, but honestly, he just felt like humming and whistling all day. Which is what he did, even though he was in the very serious line of work called law enforcement. He got strange looks from his coworkers in passing, because although Cooper was always rather chipper, he should’ve been stressed about the wedding, right?

However, he was forced to grow somber as the Twin Peaks police team had to deal with a house robbery, a house burning down, and two unrelated individuals falling into a seizure. This unfortunately took up all of his time for a whole day, and all the way into the night. On top of that, he had to deal with some final touches on the wedding,

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to go see Audrey up at Jack’s, but he missed her for every second. Her laugh crowded his thoughts when he should have paid attention to the weeping family who had lost their home. Her smile made him smile even when he should have been speaking seriously with the loved ones of the epileptic citizens. Her voice spoke to him when he should have been listening to Annie talk about the final touches of their ceremony. And that should have bothered him; but Audrey seemed to have placed him under a spell that only broke when she stumbled half naked and bloodied into the police station around midnight.

  
  


***

  
  


Audrey was woken up by a harsh slap to her face, which was immediately followed by another on her other cheek. She looked up and found herself looking into Blackie’s face, which was filled with rage. She didn’t know where she was, or what time it was. She tried to stand, but her wrists and feet were bound to the chair she was in. She was now wearing something, but it was just a small dress slip, and she still felt extremely exposed. It turned out that Blackie had only woken her up to make sure that she saw the needle go into her forearm.

Audrey woke up periodically throughout the day, her world hazy and filled with strangers. Each time she woke up, someone was flicking at her thin dress, or slicing a new cut into her cheek, or sucking on her collar bone. But she soon fell under the drug’s influence within minutes. The last time she woke up though, her head was clear enough that she noticed that no one was in the room. She managed to twist her way out of the knot that was supposed to be securing her to the arm’s chair, which had become loose. She then set to work untying herself completely, and she was stumbling through the unlocked door in no time. They must have thought that she would be too weak to escape, and had left the room unlocked. Well, there were wrong, she thought weakly to herself, as she stumbled through the hallways and out the back door of ONe Eyed Jack’s. She was too tired and drugged to notice her bloodied, undressed state, and the only thought in her mind was to get to the main road and find her way back to Twin Peaks.

  
  


***

  
  


“Audrey!” Dale called out when he saw Audrey collapse on the floor of the station’s lobby. He rushed towards her and picked her up, Lucy running out of her small office, yelling for Sheriff Truman and anyone else who was possibly near by. They all rushed out to where Audrey was being cradled in Cooper’s arms, the girl obviously passed out.

Dale turned to look at them seriously over his shoulder, and he told them fiercely, “Call an ambulance.” 


	5. The Fifth Night (In Which Waiting is Revealing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something was going on here, and he had a growing feeling that Annie didn’t know about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short, but that's just the way its gonna be.

The ambulance arrived twenty minutes later, and Cooper rode in the back with Audrey, Hawk and Harry following behind in a patrol car. Harry mumbled under his breath for most of the drive to the hospital, mostly because he was tired and was about to go home before the girl had wandered in. He did think it was a little strange that Cooper was acting so stressed out about this, a trait that he didn’t often show when things like this happened. Which wasn’t very often, but Cooper was made for law enforcement, and so he had the raw ability to take intense things like this in stride. This time however, he looked stricken and intense, and it was definitely not protocol for a cop to accompany the victim in the ambulance. Maybe the whole experience was traumatic for Cooper, or something. Maybe he had had a bad experience like this in the past, like a sister or a cousin or something.

But what Harry did not expect was for Cooper to be at the girl’s side constantly for the entirety of the next day. The doctors had taken care of her, fixed up her cuts and told them that there was no serious damage done, just that she was pretty drugged up and would need to detox for the rest of the day. That was what they had said to Cooper and Harry at two in the morning. It was now five o’clock in the evening, and the girl was still sleeping, and Cooper was still sitting beside her bed. Cooper looked tired and was constantly spacing out, and this caused Harry to be concerned. Cooper was not a man who spaced out.

He called Annie. “Hey Annie, did Dale have a sister?”

He heard her consider this from his end of the line and she responded, “No, just a brother.”

“How about a mom? Do you know if his mom passed away?” Harry pressed.

“Um, yes, but that was when he was very young.” Pause. “Why?”

Harry paused, and thought for a second before he answered her. “Oh, nothing. You go back to planning that wedding of yours on Saturday!”

Annie gave a polite goodbye, and Harry hung up. Something was going on here, and he had a growing feeling that Annie didn’t know about it.

His suspicions were confirmed when the girl woke up on Friday afternoon.

  
  



	6. The Sixth Night (In Which Loving is Desperate and Time is Short)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m only doing this because... Because I know you won’t get to see that girl again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters after this! And one of them is an epilogue, so, the story is coming to a close!   
> Please let me know if you like this! Comment or kudos, or message me at filmskilledthetelevisionstar.tumblr.com

Harry watched from the hall as the girl stirred, her eyes fluttering open like some sort of princess. He watched as Cooper immediately stood up from his chair beside her bed, leaning over her, and taking her hand in his. He watched as she looked up into Cooper’s face, but instead of being confused like a stranger should be, she began to cry, and threw her arms around Cooper’s neck.

Harry had to close the door.

A nurse entered with a clipboard, but Harry didn’t get up to see what she was doing; he just stayed in the hard plastic chair across the hall.

The nurse left a few moments later, followed by Cooper, who closed the door quietly behind him. Harry stood up and cleared his throat, catching Coop’s attention. Cooper’s face grew grave when he saw Harry’s, and he approached him with his shoulders back like he was ready to deflect anything that Harry would say to him.

“How is she?” Harry asked him right away.

“Ah, she’s good. Yeah, she’s good,” Cooper answered, nodding awkwardly. A few moments passed in silence. How does one go about accusing their best friend of cheating?

Cooper beat him to it.

“She’ll be staying with me,” Cooper said in one breath, firmly.

Harry looked at him, bewildered. “What?”

Cooper just nodded, looking away.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Coop, your wedding is tomorrow! How--”

“Exactly!’ Cooper cut him off. “She won’t be bothered by me or by anyone else because I’ll be busy at the wedding! It’ll be--”

“Cooper, you don’t know anything about this girl, I’m sure she has a family she can stay with--”

“Harry,” Cooper said lowly. Harry stopped and looked at him in the eye, and saw something there that he wasn’t expecting. Cooper honestly looked desperate. Cooper leaned in closer, his voice lower in volume.

“Harry, please. You have to let me do this.”

The sheriff was reluctant, making a stern face at his friend, until he broke.

“Alright fine. Fine. Just go.”

He began to walk away, but he turned back to say one last thing.

“I’m only doing this because... Because I know you won’t get to see that girl again.”

Harry looked at Cooper pointedly.

“So, I expect to see you at your wedding tomorrow.”

And with that, he walked away.

  
  


* * *

 

Dale had gone to the front desk to check her out of the hospital in the evening around dinner time. When Dale walked back into Audrey’s room, she was dressed in hospital issued clothes, since she had come in barely anything. He smiled at her.

“Ready to go?”

She let out a breath, fighting down that sting in her nose and throat. She had heard everything that they had said in the hall. She managed to smile at Dale.

“Yeah. Take me away, my prince,” She said, with a wink at the end, and he smiled broadly back at her. She had a hard time looking at that smile. Her left finger burned where no ring was.

 

The drive to Dale’s house was tense, mostly because they were crossing new territory, and they both knew it. One Eyed Jack’s had been their escape, their place that was far away from the rest of the world. It was the place that surely would have made them both forget about the wedding looming over their heads. But yet, here Audrey was, in the real world with Dale, and that fact made her whole body buzz. She felt like she was hyper-aware of everything, the lights of the car’s dashboard, the humming of the tires on the road, the whisper of the trees through the windows. A large part of her felt like an intruder, because the fact that Dale had been cheating this whole time with her had really only just occurred to her right then. She was paid to be the other woman at One Eyed Jack’s, but this was deliberate, and she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, or even just walking across the threshold of his house.

When they had been discussing where she would stay, Dale had been sure to mention that Annie would not be home. And that honestly made Audrey feel sick, like a weight was hanging in her stomach, and pushing from behind her chest. Dale must have sensed her panic, because he reached over without taking his eyes off the road, and took one of her hands in his. It was different for them; it was something that people who had been together for a long time did, holding hands in the car. But his strong, calloused hand calmed her, and she rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. She looked down at their intertwined hands, and the sight of his large hand engulfing hers made her smile, and even giggle a little.

“What?” Dale asked at the sound of her giggling.

“Your hands are so big,” she said softly. She was tired, and her voice definitely came out that way. But as she continued to stare at their hands, something came over her, be it desperation in the face of the morning, or something much deeper and more dangerous that Audrey was afraid to put a name to. Her body began to buzz again.

But then they were in the driveway all of a sudden, and Dale was getting out of the car, hurrying to get her door for her. And the door swung open, and the cool night air hit Audrey’s face. The spring air made something click in her, and her eyes became so clear, so wonderfully clear, she swore she could see every single barely-there freckle on Dale’s face. She was overwhelmed. She supposed it might have been the tiredness after what she had gone through, or just the fact that she could have died there had she not escaped, but she felt incredibly aware of the fact that she might not have felt the beautiful Washington air enter her lungs again. Her emotions were running high, and when she walked into Dale’s house behind him, something snapped inside of her. His house was so wonderfully him, and she instantly fell in love with every detail; it didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen all of it, she knew she would love those parts too. She stood holding her jacket in her arms as Dale scurried around her, turning on lamps, mumbling things about a non-existent mess, and it had such an effect on her, the way that she instantly recognized the place as if she had been living there for years.

Then he said something directly to her, and she had to snap out of it.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I can show you the guest room, if you’d like,” he said, standing in the middle of the living room with his hands on his hips, obviously trying to be casual.

“Sure,” she said with a small smile.

He led her down a short hall and pointed out the bathroom, before opening a door and turning on the dim lamp to shine light on the plain bed in the plain room. It smelt unlived-in, and it felt wrong to Audrey in a way that she could not understand. Dale clapped his hands on his thighs as he gestured to the small room.

“Well, this is it,” he said, a bit awkwardly. Audrey moved to put her jacket down on the bed, feeling stiff and uncomfortable.

“You might want to get some rest, and I’ve been awake for almost two days, so I’m going to turn in,” Dale told her as he backed towards the door. “I’ll just be right next door.”

Audrey nodded slightly, and he turned to leave.   
“Wait, Dale,” she said abruptly.

He stopped with his back to her, his shoulders tense as if in anticipation.

Time froze in that moment.

“Don’t go,” she whispered.

Then there were hands grabbing onto hers gently.

Then there were footsteps, leading her to a new room, a room that had been lived in, a room that she felt she knew.

Then there was light, dark and warm coming from a corner, casting light on the broken railroad tracks that they were speeding towards.

Then there were gentle hands brushing her hair out of her face, swiping an escaped tear from her cheek.

Then there were lips, warm and chapped, coming to softly land on hers, like a wind coming to sweetly blow across the petals of a wild flower.

Then the hands she loved so dearly came back, peeling and brushing and caressing her hot and shaking skin. Her hands returned the favor, worshipping the pale plains of skin before her.

And then there was the ocean, the strongest force in the world, and they crashed together and burned apart, falling right off the edge of the cliff they had been approaching the whole time.

 

* * *

 

Dale was enraptured by the way she looked in his room, in his bed, under the warm light of the small lamp, and then the light of the full moon. She belonged there, more deserving of his attention than anyone he had met, and he loved her.

How strange.

He loved Audrey, and it was strange because it hadn't taken very long at all.

He loved Audrey, and it was strange because he should have loved Annie.

He loved Audrey, and it was strange because she loved him too.

And they had whispered this to each other when her cheeks were red, and his hair was hanging in his eyes. And they clung to one another, buried underneath blankets, and sheltered from the world that would tear them apart. And they remained in that in between world comprised of whispers and touches until morning dawned, barging in and making itself known like an unwanted house guest. And yet they slept, wrapped in a fortress of bare skin and bone, until the first knock landed on the door.

 

 


	7. The Wedding Day (In Which Disaster Ensues)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Holy smokes,” he said, his hand that was holding the gun, dropping to his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, y'all, this is it. The big finale.  
> There's going to be a short epilogue after this, but I hope you are all happy with how the story turned out :)   
> Again, I'm sorry if any of this is out of character!

Music was playing and people were filing in, taking seats in the pews that were decorated with purple and white sashes. On one side of the church, in one of the side rooms, Annie was putting on her veil as Norma and Shelly scurried around her, pulling at her train and making sure all the girls had bouquets. On the other side of the church, the groomsmen were in a flurry of worry, pacing back and forth, wondering why on earth Cooper wasn’t already there. They were all in their tuxedos, and they could hear the music coming from outside their door, but Cooper wasn’t there, he wasn’t ready, and when they tried to call his house, he didn’t answer. Harry was forced to make a decision.

“I’ll go drive to his house really quick and see what’s up,” he told the men. “They won’t start without him.”

All the groomsmen shared worried glances, doubt creeping into their minds. Cooper must have a reason, right?

Harry grabbed his car keys and said one last thing before he left the room. “Don’t tell Annie!”

He rushed across the parking lot to his car, swinging in and starting the engine, flying down the road at top speed, almost tempted to turn on his patrol lights just so he could go faster.

He pulled into the driveway, noting Cooper’s car was still there, and jogged up to the front door.

He banged on the wood with his fist. “Coop! Open up!”

No response. No sound from inside. He tried again.

“Cooper! Let me in!”

Still nothing.

“You’re giving me no choice, Dale,” Harry murmured under his breath, before he kicked down the door.

“Cooper!” He shouted into the still house, his gun drawn from where he had it stashed into his tux. He walked into the kitchen, pointing his gun at anything, in case of danger or an intruder. He came up empty in the kitchen and living room, and so he crept his way down the hall, checking the empty bathroom. Cooper’s tuxedo still hung unopened on the shower curtain.

Harry tentatively checked the guest room, and noticed a jacket on the bed. Besides that, nothing else was different. That left one more room, and Harry felt the creeping sense of foreboding on the back of his neck, the short hairs beginning to stand up.

He knocked lightly. “Coop? You awake?”

He turned the door knob, slowly, slowly, the door opening inch by inch, slowly, slowly.

Then he saw them, the girl’s bare back facing the door, her curled towards Cooper, who was sitting up in the bed and stretching. Harry could put two-and-two together.

“Holy smokes,” he said, his hand that was holding the gun, dropping to his side.

  
  


* * *

 

 

Cooper stopped stretching, his arms dropping to the duvet in front of him in his lap. He saw Harry’s stricken face, and smiled a bit bashfully, but not in shame. He was not ashamed of Audrey. Not anymore.

“Morning Harry,” he said, offering up a small smile. All Harry could do though, was stand in the doorway gaping at the sight of them. Cooper reached over and lightly nudged Audrey’s shoulder from where she was curled up on her side.

“Audrey,” he said softly, melting a bit inside at her glowing porcelain skin in the morning. He didn’t want to do anything else but stare at her for the rest of the day. “Audrey, you need to wake up, now.”

She stirred and turned onto her back, stretching her arms above her head. The sheet came dangerously close to revealing more to Harry than Dale was sure he’d like to see, so he grabbed the top and pulled it up a bit.

“Audrey, I’d like you to meet Harry,” Cooper said casually, trying to fight the growing awkwardness in the room. Audrey cracked open her eyes a bit, and blinked at Harry, before smiling at him.   
“Hi,” she said softly. Dale’s face broke into a huge grin. Gosh, he sure was far gone for her.

He looked back at Harry, who still looked flabbergasted.   
“I don’t think I’ll be going to the wedding today, Harry.”

  
  


* * *

 

 

The music came to a halt in the church, and murmurs from the crowd grew as Hawk whispered something in the priest’s ear that made something come over his face. Hawk nodded solemnly when the priest looked at him in disbelief. Norma stopped fixing Annie’s hair when she didn’t hear any music.

“What’s going on?” she said. She opened the door into the main part of the church, and all the heads in the room turned to look at her. She saw Hawk standing ominously at the priest’s shoulder.

“Oh no,” she said under her breath.

“Norma?” Annie said, coming to stand by her in the doorway. When everyone saw her, they began to look at everything but her and she became extremely confused.

“What’s going on?” she asked Norma, whose eyes were downcast. Annie walked out of the room a bit.

“What’s wrong? Has anything happened?” She looked around, “Where’s Dale?”

She heard her mother gasp, and then she heard her begin to cry. She turned back to the doorway, where all the bridesmaids were clustered now, looking sad and shameful.

“Norma?” Annie said, her voice cracking.

The priest and Hawk were then at her side.

“Annie,” they told her in strange voices, like they were coaxing a small animal.

“Where’s Dale?” she asked them more forcefully.

They looked guilty.

“Dale... won’t be coming today,” said the priest. “I’m very sorry.”

Annie ears began to ring. “What?”

Hawk clarified. “The wedding is off, Annie. Dale is not coming. We’re all very sorry.”

“Did he die?” She asked, becoming panicked.

“No,” said Big Ed, coming to stand by Hawk. “He's not dead.”

Everyone was shocked at this statement, and murmurs spread around the room.

“Not dead?--”

“Well, where is he?--”

“I don’t understand--”

“You don’t think--?”

“No, he wouldn’t do that--”

The whispers grew in volume until they sounded like roars in Annie’s ears.

She walked back into the room and grabbed her car keys. Everyone was watching her.

“Wait, Annie--” Norma said, trying to stop her.

Annie grabbed her dress’ skirt and held it up so that she could walk properly, pushing her way through the people who were trying to stop her. They all knew where she was going. She managed to push her way to the doors of the church, and she walked outside and into the parking lot, under the hot spring sun. She got to her car and swung inside, trying to be careful with her dress. She saw all of them standing in the open doors of the church, watching from the top of the steps. As she drove away, she saw Bid Ed and Hawk rushing to their cars to follow behind her, and Norma was clinging to their mom, who was weeping at the bottom of the church stairs.

She drove to her house fast, her mind going a mile a minute. No, no, no, no.

She pulled up beside the house, the driveway occupied by Dale’s car, and what looked like Sheriff Truman’s car. No, Dale wouldn’t do this to me, no no no.

She got out of the car, and Hawk and Big Ed pulled up as she was trudging across the lawn to the front door, her wedding dress dragging on the dewy grass. The front door was kicked down, so she stepped inside, walking down the short entryway hall and into the living room, where she saw Dale standing and facing Harry, who was leaning against the bookcase and pinching the bridge of his nose. They both turned to look at her when she entered, giving her strange looks that seemed caught between guilty and surprised.

“Annie--” Dale started, taking a small step towards her.

“What’s going on here?” She demanded.

They opened their mouths to say something, but all their attention became distracted when a beautiful girl with short brown hair walked into the room, wrapped only in a towel.

She was talking distractedly, “Dale, do you have anything I could wear? I don’t really know what--”

She froze when she noticed Annie standing there.

“Oh,” was all she said.

 

 


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. This is the end.  
> I really hope you all enjoyed reading this, it means the world to me, it really does.   
> And please don't hate me, if you hate what I did with this story. I really tried to do these characters justice.
> 
> I'd like to give a shout out to bisexualcooper, who I follow on tumblr and who was spreading the word about this fic. I freaked out when I saw that you were reading this tbh 
> 
> It's been fun! But I'm probably going to write A LOT more Cooper/Audrey fics after this, because I love them so much omg
> 
> Please comment what you thought! Or shoot me a message at filmskilledthetelevisionstar.tumblr.com

Annie had tried to kill herself. She cut both wrists and ended up going to a convent in Europe.

The story had gotten into the papers, unfortunately. It was quite the scandal: Local Policeman Cheats on Fiancee with Girl from Canadian Casino!

Audrey always joked that they took all the romance out of it.

Eventually, they were forced to leave Twin Peaks. They had been outcasted, sadly; in a town where everyone knew everyone, it was hard for them. Dale had lost his job, and could hardly be seen in public. The town still loved him, but they just couldn’t believe what he had done to a girl that had been born and raised there in Twin Peaks. Everyone’s heart was broken.

But it wasn’t all bad. Audrey had gotten accepted into the University of Washington, which led them to moving to an apartment a little outside of the city. Dale was considering joining the F.B.I, strangely enough. He had visited the Seattle base, and had met a man named Gordon Cole, who had said they would be glad to have him.

If everything worked out, Audrey was going to transfer to the University of Virginia, so that Dale could go to the Bureau’s Academy there.

They were still in love, hopelessly so. It had been scary to venture out together so seriously. They had been afraid that maybe after it all, they would realize that it was all just in the heat of the moment, and that they hadn’t loved each other at all. But that turned out to not be the case. They went on dates, like going to the symphony, or art exhibits. Dale bought her flowers, and Audrey baked him pies. She had never envisioned herself being so domestic in all her years, but with Dale, she didn’t mind. He made her feel safe.

They had visited Twin Peaks one last time before moving out to Virginia. Dale was finally introduced to Audrey’s family, but the exchange was brief due to her mother’s embarrassing drunkenness.

And then they left for the east coast, driving through every state to get there. They went through California just for fun, and visited Los Angeles and the beach, which Audrey vowed to return to. They drove through Nevada, but didn’t stop in Vegas, the casinos making Audrey uncomfortable. Then they were eastern bound, staying in every rinky-dink motel in America, camping under the stars, or sleeping in their small car.

And years later, when Dale took cases in every state, Audrey landing an administrative job with the Bureau, they still visited Twin Peaks. And they were still in love.

How strange. 


End file.
